Be Ours a Religion That Gets Things Done

My friend and colleague Sue Sinnamon shared an interesting post from “author, speaker, activist, and public theologian” Brian McLaren called “Q & A: What About Unitarians?” The question (“Why hasn’t the Unitarian Universalist Church or those roughly affiliated seen a sharp rise in either the recent [2012 Pew Forum] survey or any other performed in the last few years?”) is in response to “Thoughts on the Nones,” a video McLaren had posted. In the video, MacLaren notes that the nones “don’t want to be part of a religious community that requires them to hold hostility toward the Other.” The questioner points out that Unitarian Universalism has “a long history in the United States (going back to abolitionism) of acceptance of individuals of many lifestyles, as well as a strong identity tied to charitable and political action.” Yet, the results of the Pew Forum survey “found that the number of Unitarian members was not a statistically viable number among survey respondents.” Whatever happened to the notion that Unitarian Universalism is “A Religion for Our Time“?

MacLaren offers some interesting insights. The one that really caught my eye was this: “the degree to which a religious community deconstructs without reconstructing will put it at a disadvantage. It not only must removed negatives that other communities have: it must have positives that other communities lack.” It seems to me that Unitarian Universalism has, indeed, removed a lot of “negatives that other communities have.” The problem is, perhaps, that we’re a little too self-congratulatory around this point. If the nones are looking for a non-hostile religion, we’re the one! But the nones, like other kinds of spiritual seekers, aren’t just looking for a religion that plays well with others. They could very well be looking for a religion that gets things done, both for themselves and for the world.

Which brings me to Doug Muder’s recent UUWorld article: “The surprising success of lifeboat faith.” The tagline for the article says it all: “Unitarian Universalism cannot thrive if we don’t at least understand the appeal of religions that give people identity and direction.” The Unitarian Universalism that is not thriving is the one that says, “Hey, look! We’ve got a pretty good product here. We embrace theological diversity, and we welcome different beliefs and affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person. How cool is that!” Not a whole lot about identity and direction there. People are looking for more. According to Muder,

the appeal of religion lies in identity and orientation: Who am I? Who are my people? Why is my life important, and what am I supposed to be doing with it? The rapid change in the modern era has only increased the importance of those perennial questions and raised the value of answers that feel solid and steady.

Rather that being a religion for our time, let’s be the religion that gets things done. A religion that provides “answers that feel solid and steady” to those big questions Muder refers to. He’s got some great ideas about what those answers might look like. And if you haven’t seen the article yet, consider trying to answer them for yourself first. In the meantime, I came across this great quote from the conclusion of the UUA’s Commission on Appraisal’s 2005 report “Engaging Our Theological Diversity” [PDF]:

What would our UU faith be like if our congregations truly became the safe and welcoming place we aspire to create? If we truly did honor and celebrate both our theological diversity and our sources of unity? If we were willing to commit to spiritual discipline as deeply as to spiritual freedom? “Whether we now have the seeds of a liberating faith is not really the question. Deluding ourselves into thinking that admiring the seeds will make them grow is the issue at hand,” writes a contemporary UU prophet (Gordon McKeeman). What marvels might be possible if we took these seeds and planted and tended them? What wondrous blossoms might arise?

McLaren has a similar quote in his post: “Perhaps, as John Cobb says in his recent (excellent) book, Religions in the Making, the best contributions of Unitarians are in their future, and what they can be has not yet been fully manifested.” May it be so, friends. May it be so.

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Heather Christensen

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5 comments

:Whatever happened to the notion that Unitarian Universalism is “A Religion for Our Time“?

Actually the notion was that Unitarian Universalism “*Can* Be *The* Religion For Our Time“ as per Rev. Peter Morales’ UUA presidential campaign slogan. I think that “less than realistic” aka bombastic campaign slogan was subsequently watered down to “A Religion for Our Time“ after Rev. Morales was elected as UUA President.

:It seems to me that Unitarian Universalism has, indeed, removed a lot of “negatives that other communities have.” The problem is, perhaps, that we’re a little too self-congratulatory around this point. If the nones are looking for a non-hostile religion, we’re the one!

WRONG.

And deep down inside you know it Phil.

There was, and still is. . . a high degree of hostility towards Christianity and other theistic religions expressed by the militant atheist contingent of “Humanist” U*Us and, besides that very serious problem that is FAR from being resolved their is a high degree of hostility towards Republicans and other political conservatives amongst ever so “liberal” Unitarian Universalists. Until these, and various other serious negatives such as U*U classism and eltism, are responsibly addressed and significantly diminished Unitarian Universalism will struggle to be recognized as *a* religion let alone *the* religion for our time.

:But the nones, like other kinds of spiritual seekers, aren’t just looking for a religion that plays well with others. They could very well be looking for a religion that gets things done, both for themselves and for the world.

That is another big problem. There is a great deal of public posturing done by U*Us on a few issues such as marriage equality and immigration reform, but how much real influence and broader social impact does U*Uism actually have on contemporary American society? Not so much as far as I can see. This whole business of chasing after “The Nones” is not going to gain the UUA very many new members in my opinion. They are not called “The Nones” for nothing. . .

I *could* go on but I expect that you are getting the picture.

One last parting shot though. When it comes to getting things done the UUA does a very poor job of it in terms of resolving internal injustices and abuses such as clergy misconduct. The latest evidence of that legacy of disturbing negligence towards and shameful complicity in UU clergy abuse of all kinds was posted to the UU Safety Net website on Groundhog Day.

Yes, I agree that there is hostility toward Christians in some UU congregations. I’m not sure if McLaren has ever experienced that personally, however. I think he was being a bit more general. And I guess that the work UUs do in public can sometimes appear to be posturing. But that’s more at the national level. The getting things done has to happen at the congregational level. The uusafety.net post was enlightening. Thanks.

Robert said – “The reason the UU isn’t taking off is that most UU congregations evidence a great deal more concern about principles than people. etc. etc.”

Most ironically, in my experience, the vast majority of U*Us (including MANY “less than perfect” U*U clergy) quite regularly disregard, flaunt, and willfully violate the claimed principles and ideals of Unitarian Universalism with little or no concern for the people who they directly or indirectly harm.
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You’re welcome Phil and thanks for posting my contentious comment typos and speeling errors and all.

Based on my own personal experience with U*Us, but also based on what a number of U*U clergy have said about hostility towards Christianity and Christians in U*U congregations over the years, and even quite recently. . . I believe that anti-Christian hostility, and broader anti-religious intolerance, is still quite a wide-spread problem within Unitarian Universalism and not limited to only a few U*U “churches”. Even when such hostility is not overt, thinly veiled contempt for other religions is often quite evident. I am convinced that this sanctimonious air of superiority is a big turn off to genuine religious seekers even if it does not descend into outright hostility and bigotry as it does all too often.

Unitarian Universalism does not have a snowball’s chance in the Hell that most U*Us do not believe in of becoming “The Religion For Our Time” if this serious problem is not responsibly addressed in a firthright manner by Unitarian Univertsalist religious leaders. When I see UUA President Peter Morales spouting his thnly veiled contempt for Christianity as recently as a few days ago I see little hope for positive change in the short term. . .

The reason the UU isn’t taking off is that most UU congregations evidence a great deal more concern about principles than people. Kindness keeps people coming back. In my experience, people in need who present themselves at the UU are regarded as suspect–although they may get to listen to long sermons about wonderful UU programs in other places or from other times that don’t have any place for them. Sorry, that’s my experience. I’d be UU except for UU’s. And I’m far the only person I know who’s voiced this opinion. Follow UU principles, but give up the sanctimony about them. Or use the UU as a platform for being more-principled-than-thou and be happy to be small.

More concern about principles than people. A valid observation. And perhaps a number of UUs would rather interact with people in pain outside of the congregational walls rather than in the pew sitting next to them. As Kaaren Anderson said in her Charlotte GA sermon, maybe instead of telling people that they don’t need to leave the brain at the door when they come to a UU congregation, we should be telling them that they don’t need to leave their pain at the door.